Ursula K. Le Guin on the absurdity of denying your age: “If I’m ninety and believe I’m forty-five, I’m headed for a very bad time trying to get out of the bathtub.” On cultural perceptions of fantasy: “The direction of escape is toward freedom. So what is ‘escapism’ an accusation of?” On breakfast: “Eating an egg from the shell takes not only practice, but resolution, even courage, possibly willingness to commit crime.” Ursula K. Le Guin has taken readers to imaginary worlds for decades. Now she’s in the last great frontier of life, old age, and exploring new literary territory: the blog, a forum where her voice—sharp, witty, as compassionate as it is critical—shines. No Time to Spare collects the best of Ursula’s online writing, presenting perfectly crystallized dispatches on what matters to her now, her concerns with this world, and her unceasing wonder at it: “How rich we are in knowledge, and in all that lies around us yet to learn. Billionaires, all of us.” Praise for NO TIME TO SPARE A TimeOut Book to Cozy Up to This December A Real Simple Best Book to Read in December A Bustle Best Book to Read in December One of Southern Living's Unputdownable Reads to Curl Up with in December A Harper's Bazaar Best New Book to Read in December A Most Anticipated Title of the Fall from Vulture A Book Riot Must-Read Book for December “This delightful book [is] inquisitive and stroppily opinionated in equal measure…In even these miscellanies, composed in [Le Guin’s] off hours, the sentences are perfectly balanced and the language chosen with care. After all, she writes, ‘Words are my matter—my stuff.’ And it’s through their infinite arrangements…that Ms. Le Guin’s extraordinary imaginary worlds have been built and shared.”—Wall Street Journal “There are shades of Adrienne Rich here…At the end of ‘No Time to Spare,’ having enjoyed all the Annals of Pard and the Steinbeck anecdotes, the stories about the Oregon desert and the musings on belief, all I could think was: I want Le Guin to keep going, on and on. I want to read more.”—Michelle Dean, The Los Angeles Times “‘No Time to Spare,’ deriving from Le Guin’s online essays, covers just about anything that crosses her mind, from 'lit biz' to cats to the Oregon landscape…Might there be truth to the commonplace that science fiction writers are prophets?...A year ago I argued that Le Guin deserved a Nobel Prize in literature. In fact — what a fantasy! — she ought to be running the country.”—The Washington Post “In 'No Time to Spare: Thinking About What Matters,' Le Guin shows that elders have plenty to teach…[She] finds inspiration in the everyday and makes it sparkle with her prose…In step with her legacy, [she] challenges us to reconsider what we automatically accept…“No Time to Spare” will leave readers hoping that Le Guin is given a bit more time to share her observations — on aging, art, our world — and to remind us of things we mustn’t forget.”—Newsday “[No Time to Spare is] erudite, witty and…wise…even in pieces about her cat, or about answering fan mail, [Le Guin] makes the reader continually conscious of the ways that her age is a part of her life. That subtle coherence gives the book a special feeling, to borrow her words…a ‘steady, luminous ethical focus’…Deep down there: that is where Le Guin has taken readers for decade after decade, and where, these essays show, she is capable of taking them still.”—The Chicago Tribune “Le Guin’s new book, No Time To Spare…feels like the surprising and satisfying culmination to a career in other literary forms…Even in the familiar relationship of an old woman and her cat, Le Guin finds an ambit for challenging moral insight and matter for an inquisitiveness that probes the deep time of evolution...Blogs may not be novels, but a blog by Le Guin is no ordinary blog, either. It is a comfort to know, as reality seems to grow more claustrophobic and inescapable, that she remains at her desk, busily subverting our world.”—The New Republic “The more you re-read this collection of blog posts by science fiction Grandmaster Le Guin, the more you're convinced of Oliver Wendell Holmes's quip that for the true thinker, nothing is trivial… [No Time to Spare] is delivered in the core-drilling, clear, thoughtful language of somebody who's been crafting English for more than half a century – but the entries on the craft of writing itself are, perhaps predictably, the best things in the book.”—Christian Science Monitor “[Le Guin’s] clever observations and sharp, nimble prose provide a window into the interior life of the award-winning novelist.” —Harper’s Bazaar "[No Time to Spare] touches on...everything from feminism to swear words in fiction. Each entry is filled with warmth, insight, and humor."—Real Simple “[An] altogether fantastic collection No Time to Spare: Thinking About What Matters…[is] a magnificent read in its tessellated totality.”—Brain Pickings “Le Guin is a natural storyteller, and these snippets from her life are inarguably delightful. She is certainly a lioness in winter here, as focused as she has ever been on the things that matter most to her. Old age is not for the young, she posits—and it is a slogan not intended as complaint, but rallying cry. Spend a little time with octogenarian Ursula K. Le Guin, and the prospect of growing old becomes a bit less daunting.”—BookPage "Le Guin is 88 and shows no sign of slowing down in this essay collection, dispensing serious wisdom about our world, politics, literature, aging, and more."—Book Riot “Reading the latest book from Portland writer Ursula K. Le Guin…is a bit like having a one-way conversation with a funny, cranky, keen-eyed old friend…Even when you want to quibble with her, Le Guin keeps you thoroughly engaged…It can be fun. It can be startling. It can get your back up… As you might expect from an author whose career has been devoted to imagining alternative worlds in close detail, she has a knack for stepping back from life on Earth and seeing it for the strange thing it is.” —The Oregonian "Rife with insight [and] humor."—The Columbus Dispatch “A delightfully random bouquet of musings on aging, writing, the moral character of the United States, Homer, her cat Pard, and everything in between…Following LeGuin’s penetrating mind as she thinks about the problems of our world and puzzles of language makes No Time to Spare a more than worthwhile read for fans and new readers alike.”—The Riveter “Le Guin is a thoughtful and careful writer, and so her opinions are thoughtfully and carefully organized. She knows what she thinks, and she writes so well that you’ll want to return to these candid essays…like returning to an older, wiser friend.” —Omnivoracious “No Time to Spare presents the best of Le Guin's blog: sharp-eyed, big-hearted, idiosyncratic and highly enjoyable…Both Le Guin's eye for detail and her dry wit are on full display here…Readers will find much to think about in this wise and eloquent collection.”—Shelf Awareness “To Le Guin…what truly matters are the words she thinks about, rigorous in her examination. Her expression of these thoughts reads more like mini-essays than blog posts and invite close reading, which always reaps rich rewards, the true gift of this lovely book.”—Booklist "Spirited, wry reflections on aging, literature, and America's moral life...An entertaining collection...Thoughtful musings from a deft and sharply insightful writer." —Kirkus “Short, punchy, and canny meditations on aging, literature, and cats…[Le Guin] offers her many fans a chance to share her clear-eyed experience of the everyday.” —Publishers Weekly Praise for Ursula K. Le Guin “There is no better spirit in all of American letters than that of Ursula Le Guin.” —Choire Sicha, Slate "As a deviser of worlds, as a literary stylist, as a social critic and as a storyteller, Le Guin has no peer. From the time of her first published work in the mid-1960s, she began to push against the confines of science fiction, bringing to bear an anthropologist's acute eye for large social textures and mythic structures, a fierce egalitarianism and a remarkable gift of language, without ever renouncing the sense of wonder and the spirit of play inherent in her genre of origin." —Michael Chabon "One of the most original imaginations ever to grace American letters...Through decades and scores of books, the genre Le Guin made her own has itself grown up — writers from David Mitchell to Salman Rushdie have walked through the door Le Guin opened...To sit and talk with Le Guin is to engage a powerful mind that has responded to ideological entrapments or career bumps by carpentering a new space for itself. She is brisk and funny, but unsparing when asked to comment on something which, in her mind, does not measure up...She shows that stories that stand the test of time can come from something as simple as fellowship: like a family, like an extraordinary body of work, like a house built from a kit, standing proudly on a hill, more than a hundred years later." —John Freeman, Boston Globe “Le Guin, of course, has long been one of our most powerful writers of conscience.” —David L. Ulin, Los Angeles Times "It’s hard to think of another living author who has written so well for so long in so many styles as Ursula K. Le Guin." —Scott Timber, Salon “She never loses touch with her reverence for the immense what is.” —Margaret Atwood “Ursula K. Le Guin’s prose breathes light and intelligence. She can lift fiction to the level of poetry and compress it to the density of allegory.” —Jonathan Lethem “There is no writer with an imagination as forceful and delicate as Le Guin’s.” —Grace Paley “Le Guin is a writer of enormous intelligence and wit, a master storyteller with the humor and force of a Twain. She creates stories for everyone from New Yorker literati to the hardest audience, children. She remakes every genre she uses.” —Sarah Smith, Boston Globe "[Le Guin] is frequently referred to as 'the best of' for all manner of things—like best fantasy writer, best science fiction writer, best female writer—all of which is silly, as she both defies and accepts all categorization. Her influence on generations of readers and writers, from George R.R. Martin to Jennifer Egan to David Mitchell, is as evident as it is impossible to overstate. Admired for her quiet daring, her structures, and her inventions, most of all she is revered for her sentences." —Choire Sicha, Interview Magazine

世上最幸福快樂的城市，住著最悲慘可憐的孩子――《離開奧美拉城的人》 那孩子小小的手中捧著一個木盒，微笑著說，裡面裝的是黑暗――《黑暗之盒》 一式十型的複製人不幸死去九個，剩下的那人，將會如何？――《死了九次的人》 在科學等同黑魔法的世界，對知識的單純渴求竟招致殺身之禍？――《師傅》 無人知曉山下巫師的真實身分，直到另一名屠龍巫師出現，他們才發現真相――《名的規則》 《風的十二方位》由勒瑰恩自選17個短篇，收錄自我點評與花絮、起源與軼事。故事設定從中古世紀延伸至遙遠未來；有偶然拾起的靈感，也有未來長篇的起源。勒瑰恩向來善於以優美犀利的筆觸，刻畫衝擊既定印象的情節。於她筆下，所有世俗界線皆可挑戰與破除。透過這本短篇自選，我們將在作者帶領下踏上一趟回溯之旅，一點一滴深入她以文字開闢的科幻疆土，探索豐沛故事力量的源頭。 來自遠方、來自朝夕晨昏／來自蒼穹十二方位的風， 說吧，我必回應；告訴我，我能如何幫助你； 在風自十二方位吹來／我踏上無盡長路之前。

"Then came a child trotting to school with his little backpack. He trotted on all fours, neatly, his hands in leather mitts or boots that protected them from the pavement; he was pale, with small eyes, and a snout, but he was adorable." --from Changing Planes The misery of waiting for a connecting flight at an airport leads to the accidental discovery of alighting on other planes--not airplanes but planes of existence. Ursula Le Guin's deadpan premise frames a series of travel accounts by the tourist-narrator who describes bizarre societies and cultures that sometimes mirror our own, and sometimes open puzzling doors into the alien. Winner of the PEN/Malamud for Short Stories

In Victoria on a former prison colony, two exiled groups--the farmers of Shantih and the City dwellers--live in apparent harmony. All is not as it seems, however. While the peace-loving farmers labor endlessly to provide food for the City, the City Bosses rule the Shantih with an iron fist. When a group of farmers decide to from a new settlement further away, the Bosses retaliate by threatening to crush the "rebellion." Luz understands what it means to have no choices. Her father is a Boss and he has ruled over her life with the same iron fist. Luz wonders what it might be like to make her own choices. To be free to choose her own destiny. When the crisis over the new settlement reaches a flash point, Luz will have her chance.

【编辑推荐】 ◆永远的奇幻女王厄休拉·勒古恩！ 宫崎骏的灵感来源·村上春树的偶像·阿特伍德的劲敌与挚友。 荣获8次雨果奖、6次星云奖、24次轨迹奖、美国科幻奇幻作家协会大师奖。 ◆科幻奇幻史上里程碑式的巨匠厄休拉·勒古恩！ 写的是魔法奇观，讲的是心灵成长（《地海传奇》）； “雌雄同体”强设定，载入史册的性别科幻（《黑暗的左手》）； 用道家思想，改造乌托邦文学（《天钧》）。 ◆迷茫时忠于自己的内心，就能做出正确的选择。 当一个孩子学会爱、阅读、自由，就是他长大的时刻。 ◆厄休拉·勒古恩高口碑经典作，荣获3个轨迹奖提名、1个星云奖。 ◆比肩《地海传奇》，勒古恩叩问“超能力”本质的心灵成长史诗！ ◆在神秘邈远的西岸世界，有孕育和禁锢天赋的贫瘠高山，有自由之魂栖息的奴隶城邦，有借优美诗篇散播信念与希望的吟游诗人。 ◆《X战警》式超能力外衣+《安德的游戏》式深刻自省！当天赋成为诅咒，当阅读成为禁忌，当“自由”不被需要…… ◆“如果早一点看到这样的书，也许我也有可能少走弯路，变得更好。”——豆瓣读者 ◆（厄休拉·勒古恩的）书一直放在枕边，没有一刻拿开过。烦恼的时候，困的时候，一遍遍反复读着。——宫崎骏（动画大师） ◆圆脊精装，绝美典藏： 随书附赠厄休拉·勒古恩手绘地图； 3张原创全彩手绘环衬，还原书中动人场景。 ◆中文版初次引进。 --------------------------------------- 【故事简介】 他从父亲处获得“死”的天赋： 用一个手势，一个注视，就使生命灰飞烟灭。 他从母亲处获得“生”的天赋： 用三两词句，一卷诗歌，就能在吟诵中传递希望与力量。 然而，在贫瘠孤立的高地，在争斗不休的部落间， 只有“死”的天赋被尊重、被传颂、被畏惧。 它伴随着少年奥莱克的迷茫而觉醒， 在部落间掀起风浪，在至亲间划出鸿沟。 当“死”的天赋让少年不堪重负， 他转而向“生”，寻找黑暗中的微光。

【编辑推荐】 ◆永远的奇幻女王厄休拉·勒古恩！ 宫崎骏的灵感来源·村上春树的偶像·阿特伍德的劲敌与挚友。 荣获8次雨果奖、6次星云奖、24次轨迹奖、美国科幻奇幻作家协会大师奖。 ◆科幻奇幻史上里程碑式的巨匠厄休拉·勒古恩！ 写的是魔法奇观，讲的是心灵成长（《地海传奇》）； “雌雄同体”强设定，载入史册的性别科幻（《黑暗的左手》）； 用道家思想，改造乌托邦文学（《天钧》）。 ◆迷茫时忠于自己的内心，就能做出正确的选择。 当一个孩子学会爱、阅读、自由，就是他长大的时刻。 ◆厄休拉·勒古恩高口碑经典作，荣获3个轨迹奖提名、1个星云奖。 ◆比肩《地海传奇》，勒古恩叩问“超能力”本质的心灵成长史诗！ ◆在神秘邈远的西岸世界，有孕育和禁锢天赋的贫瘠高山，有自由之魂栖息的奴隶城邦，有借优美诗篇散播信念与希望的吟游诗人。 ◆《X战警》式超能力外衣+《安德的游戏》式深刻自省！当天赋成为诅咒，当阅读成为禁忌，当“自由”不被需要…… ◆“如果早一点看到这样的书，也许我也有可能少走弯路，变得更好。”——豆瓣读者 ◆（厄休拉·勒古恩的）书一直放在枕边，没有一刻拿开过。烦恼的时候，困的时候，一遍遍反复读着。——宫崎骏（动画大师） ◆圆脊精装，绝美典藏： 随书附赠厄休拉·勒古恩手绘地图； 3张原创全彩手绘环衬，还原书中动人场景。 ◆中文版初次引进。 ------------------------------------------------------- 【故事简介】 他们侵略安苏尔城，烧杀抢掠，奴役人民， 却对书籍畏之如虎——焚书、禁读， 将书籍斥为孕育罪恶的魔鬼。 但城中少女梅默知道， 在这座丧失信仰的将死之城，书籍是最后的星火。 小小的地下图书室里，少女悄无声息地长大， 尘封多年的古老典籍被翻开， “自由”的神谕等待着从少女的口中滑落、实现……

'Her most important book since ALWAYS COMING HOME and her most satisfactory collection since her first, the brilliant, THE WIND'S TWELVE QUARTERS. A formidable and rewarding work, a prime candidate for best SF collection of the year. An essential book.' LOCUS Six of the eight piece are set in Le Guin's classic Hainish cycle. The title story, 'The Birthday of the World', stands alone and the final piece, 'Paradises Lost', is a new short novel original to the collection, a major addition to the generation starship subgenre of science fiction.

No other English translation of this greatest of the Chinese classics can match Ursula Le Guin's striking new version. Le Guin, best known for thought-provoking science fiction novels that have helped to transform the genre, has studied the Tao Te Ching for more than forty years. She has consulted the literal translations and worked with Chinese scholars to develop a version that lets the ancient text speak in a fresh way to modern people, while remaining faithful to the poetic beauty of the work. Avoiding scholarly interpretations and esoteric Taoist insights, she has revealed the Tao Te Ching 's immediate relevance and power, its depth and refreshing humor, in a way that shows better than ever before why it has been so much loved for more than 2,500 years. Included are Le Guin's own personal commentary and notes on the text. This new version is sure to be welcomed by the many readers of the Tao Te Ching as well as those coming to the text for the first time.

WHEN YOUNG TENAR is chosen as high priestess to the ancient and nameless Powers of the Earth, everything is taken away -- home, family, possessions, even her name. For she is now Arha, the Eaten One, guardian of the ominous Tombs of Atuan. While she is learning her way through the dark labyrinth, a young wizard, Ged, comes to steal the Tombs' greatest hidden treasure, the Ring of Erreth-Akbe. But Ged also brings with him the light of magic, and together, he and Tenar escape from the darkness that has become her domain. With millions of copies sold, Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea Cycle has earned a treasured place on the shelves of fantasy lovers everywhere. Complex, innovative, and deeply moral, this quintessential fantasy sequence has been compared with the work of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, and has helped make Le Guin one of the most distinguished fantasy and science fiction writers of all time. She lives in Portland, Oregon.

“I have decided that the trouble with print is, it never changes its mind,” writes Ursula Le Guin in her introduction to Dancing at the Edge of the World. But she has, and here is the record of that change in the decade since the publication of her last nonfiction collection, The Language of the Night. And what a mind — strong, supple, disciplined, playful, ranging over the whole field of its concerns, from modern literature to menopause, from utopian thought to rodeos, with an eloquence, wit, and precision that makes for exhilarating reading.

Shevek, a brilliant physicist, decides to take action. He will seek answers, question the unquestionable, and attempt to tear down the walls of hatred that have isolated his planet of anarchists from the rest of the civilized universe. To do this dangerous task will mean giving up his family and possibly his life—Shevek must make the unprecedented journey to the utopian mother planet, Urras, to challenge the complex structures of life and living, and ignite the fires of change.

深入《黑暗的左手》世界神祕設定 徜徉勒瑰恩的性別科幻宇宙 ★星雲獎、軌跡獎、小詹姆斯．提普崔獎最佳短篇小說 ★紐約客雜誌、時代雜誌、波士頓環球報、華盛頓郵報、科克斯評論、軌跡雜誌等好評推薦 ★英美著名科幻作家聯手推崇 如果性別只在性慾覺醒後顯現？ 如果男性僅允許擔負傳宗接代與美的角色？ 如果婚姻必須是兩男兩女的結合？ 如果有文化深信，愛與男女共組家庭，只是某種事關控制的魔法？ 如果能夠生育，是女性神性的來源？ 「地海」系列、《黑暗的左手》重量級作家，八個思索生命開始與終結、個體與群體、冒險與流浪、愛與恨、性與欲的人生詩篇，打破我們對自身人性想像的侷限，真正進入無限可能的宇宙。 在《世界誕生之日：諸物語》的八則異星紀事裡，勒瑰恩不僅更詳細地向讀者揭露她的重要作品《黑暗的左手》中，星際聯盟「伊庫盟」探索的瀚星世界，及其殖民星球上的社會文化制度，更從這些連生理結構也演化出異變的人類身上，探索她對性、性別與箇中權力結構變化的思考；最後並挑戰了「原鄉」與「樂園」的概念，帶領你我思考出發與抵達的真義。 ※新版特別收錄譯者洪凌紀念娥蘇拉‧K‧勒瑰恩之短文 ※本書曾於2004年（初版）、2011年（再版）於繆思出版發行 好評推薦 勒瑰恩的作品總是帶領我們超越對性別認知的尋常侷限，這部小說集也不例外。──《紐約客》雜誌 她是少數幾位能成功從科幻類型作家一躍成為重要作家的人。──《華盛頓郵報》 她筆下的人物性格豐富令人難忘，她的文筆更是以優雅不失強勁而著稱。──《時代雜誌》 勒瑰恩是位極為睿智且機智的作家，高明的說書人，幽默與力道堪比馬克‧吐溫。── 《波士頓郵報》 再一次，勒瑰恩力道十足的作品證明：科幻小說不必然是逃避現實的東西，性別研究不一定都是尖澀刺耳的聲音，娛樂也不盡然是無腦的內容。──《洋蔥》雜誌 一道純粹的星光── 《科克斯評論》 勒瑰恩在本書所完成的，只能以「美」來形容。她探索了種種關係：我們可能對彼此感到陌生，甚至有如外星異客，但仍相愛。讀著讀著我甚至不知不覺流下淚來，我只知道我深深受到感動。──娜洛‧霍普金森（牙買加裔加拿大科幻小說家，《午夜盜賊》作者） 這是最偉大的科幻小說大師所寫的八篇睿智美妙的故事所集結而成的小說集，優美，深刻，令人著迷。── 羅伯‧席維柏格（美國科幻小說名家）

Ursula K. Le Guin's Always Coming Home is a major work of the imagination from one of America's most respected writers. More than five years in creation, it is a novel unlike any other. A rich and complex interweaving of story and fable, poem, artwork, and music, it totally immerses the reader in the culture of the Kesh, a peaceful people of the far future who inhabit a place called the Valley on the Northern Pacific Coast. The author makes the inhabitants of the valley as familiar, as immediate, as wholly human as our own friends or family. Spiraling outward from the dramatic life story of a woman called Stone Telling, Le Guin's Always Coming Home interweaves wry wit, deep insight and extraordinary compassion into a compelling unity of vision.

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the timeless and beloved A Wizard of Earthsea —“…reads like the retelling of a tale first told centuries ago,” (David Mitchell)—comes this complete omnibus edition of the entire Earthsea chronicles, including over fifty illustrations illuminating Le Guin’s vision of her classic saga. Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea novels are some of the most acclaimed and awarded works in literature—they have received prestigious accolades such as the National Book Award, a Newbery Honor, the Nebula Award, and many more honors, commemorating their enduring place in the hearts and minds of readers and the literary world alike. Now for the first time ever, they’re all together in one volume—including the early short stories, Le Guin’s “Earthsea Revisioned” Oxford lecture, and a new Earthsea story, never before printed. With a new introduction by Le Guin herself, this essential edition will also include fifty illustrations by renowned artist Charles Vess, specially commissioned and selected by Le Guin, to bring her refined vision of Earthsea and its people to life in a totally new way. [Stories include: “A Wizard of Earthsea”, “The Tombs of Atuan”, “The Farthest Shore”, “Tehanu”, “Tales From Earthsea”, “The Other Wind”, “The Rule of Names”, “The Word of Unbinding”, “The Daughter of Odren”, and “Earthsea Revisioned: A Lecture at Oxford University”.] With stories as perennial and universally beloved as The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of The Rings—but also unlike anything but themselves—this edition is perfect for those new to the world of Earthsea, as well as those who are well-acquainted with its enchanting magic: to know Earthsea is to love it.

<b>Winner of:</b><br /> Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, National Book Foundation<br /><br /> Newly revised and presented here in book form for the first time, this Nebula Award-winning story tells of two captive "dirt children" in a society of sword and silk, whose determination to find a glimpse of justice leads to a violent and loving end. Also included is the nonfiction essay "Staying Awake While We Read" which demolishes the pretensions of corporate publishing and the basic assumptions of capitalism, and "Outspoken Author Interview," which reveals the hidden dimensions of America's best-known sci-fi author.<br /><br />Content: <br />Wild girls <br />"Staying awake while we read"<br />Poems <br />"Conversation of the modest"<br />"Lovely art" - Outspoken interview with Ursula K. Le Guin.

One of America's most respected, most admired writers--winner of the National Book Award in 1992 and twice a finalist--delivers an eloquent and moving collection of mainstream short stories.

世界幻想文学的传奇篇章 奇幻科幻文学女王厄休拉·勒古恩晚年力作 想象力与黑色幽默的绝妙结合 颠覆人类世界的现行规则 反思文明与人性的价值 ◎ 编辑推荐 ☆ 《变化的位面》的作者厄休拉·勒古恩于今年（2018年）1月22日去世，《纽约时报》评价她是“美国当代最伟大的科幻小说家”，斯蒂芬·金也送上别致的悼词：“愿她在银河中旅途愉快”。勒古恩不只在世界奇幻、科幻文学界有崇高的地位，更被重量级文学评论家哈罗德·布鲁姆列为美国文学经典作家之一。她以深厚的人文底蕴和简练优美的文笔丰富了整个奇幻科幻小说领域的内涵，对尼尔·盖曼、萨尔曼·鲁西迪、乔治·R·R·马丁、大卫·米切尔等优秀作家产生了很大的影响。 ☆ 《变化的位面》于2003年出版，获得了2004年轨迹奖最佳小说集的肯定，是勒古恩较为晚期的创作。十五篇故事涵盖了对于生化危机、消费主义、人类语言、梦与睡眠、生命与轮回等主题的深刻思考，可以说是一部蕴含了勒古恩一生智慧的作品。 ☆ 《变化的位面》中，勒古恩以细腻的笔触刻画了一个个诡奇的平行世界，这里有不睡觉的永醒者、不会死亡的不朽者，不愿飞翔的翼人，基因改造后的玉米人……并以此揭露与讽刺现实世界中存在的荒谬。 ☆ 《变化的位面》的叙事风格多变，小说里既有像博尔赫斯那样探究语言本质、寓意深远的故事，也有对埃舍尔错视风格的文学模仿；犹如《银河系漫游指南》，充满了对地球以外世界的奇思妙想，对于人类社会的幽默讽刺则让人想到《格列佛游记》。勒古恩以亦庄亦谐的笔调描写了一段段精彩纷呈的位面旅程，并寄托了深远的寓意于这些故事当中，在在显示了她幻想小说大师级别的功力。 ◎ 内容简介 学会这种转换法，摆脱在机场烦躁不堪的等候，畅游千奇百怪的位面！ 基因有百分之四是玉米的人、混合所有人与动物潜意识的梦境、 不需睡眠的新世代、仅有一户平民的王族国家…… 在表面奇趣横生的事物之下，让勒古恩带你深入探索这些位面背后的故事。 ◎ 名人推荐 文学艺术的巅峰之作。 ——尼尔·盖曼 勒古恩不仅仅是一名科幻作家，更是一名文学偶像。 ——斯蒂芬·金 勒古恩是不懈追求和平王国理想的美国作家之中，最足以作为典范的那个。 ——玛格丽特·阿特伍德 充满了扭曲的幽默感……也许是勒古恩至今为止最富有娱乐性、最有趣的小说集。 ——加里·K·沃尔夫 厄休拉·勒古恩的文字极为优美，是我钟爱的女作家。 ——村上春树 厄休拉·勒古恩的想象力丰富，风格上乘。作为当代科幻及奇幻作家的典范，其成就远超过托尔金和多丽丝·莱辛。 ——哈罗德·布鲁姆 ◎ 媒体推荐 阅读本书是一种极乐。 ——《出版者周刊》 《变化的位面》为位面旅行赋予了全新的意义……勒古恩仍然在运用她优雅却刻薄的写作才华将世界上的各种愚行展示于我们面前。 ——《卫报》 作者以其生动的描述、超然的冷静、富于幽默感的讽刺和敏锐的双眼将我们带入了不同的世界，相信本书的每一位读者都会想要亲身进行位面旅行。喜欢异世界游记的读者一定会为本书而欣喜若狂。 ——《书单》 小说中充满了哲理，正如乔纳森·斯威夫特与豪尔赫·路易斯·博尔赫斯的风格。 ——《纽约时报·书评版》 在这本书当中，勒古恩完美地运用了她创作神话的能力……书中的陈述引人入胜，具有煽动性。故事富于想象力和娱乐性。与以往一样，勒古恩的笔触还是充满了魔力。 ——《柯卡斯书评·加星评论》 《变化的位面》与奥维德的作品也有很多相似之处。勒古恩试图创作一本现代版的《变形记》，在本书中，那些有血有泪的类人住民正是我们的替身。 ——Book Page 《变化的位面》这本书是一个新型写作方法的实验品，它以一种精心设计的格式将异世界的游记和异形生物的调查报告有机地组合在一起，整本书的可读性非常强。 ——The Zone 在类型文学当中很难找到比此书更能引人深思的作品了，与此同时它还拥有优美的文笔和高超的写作技巧。仅从这部小说集来看，我们就不难理解，为什么一向苛刻的批评家们对于这位优秀的作家却从不吝惜溢美之词。科幻与奇幻小说的女王万岁。 ——SF Crousnest ◎ 获奖记录 ☆ 本书获2004年轨迹奖最佳小说集。 ☆ 作者曾获得6个星云奖、7个雨果奖、21个轨迹奖、美国科幻和奇幻作家协会大师奖、美国国家图书奖、世界奇幻奖、卡夫卡奖、号角书奖、纽伯瑞奖等多项殊荣。